Destination Imagination Team to head to Destination Imagination Global Finals

Friday

Apr 28, 2017 at 9:32 AM

WRENTHAM — Wrentham Public Schools’ Destination Imagination Team “Magic Monkeys” will go to the global finals competition after placing first at the regional tournament and taking second place at the recent state tournament.

The team will represent Massachusetts and Wrentham at the Destination Imagination Global Finals to be held in Knoxville, Tennessee in May.

The six person, co-ed team includes fifth-graders Rebekah Gebhardt, Isabella McFarlane and Peter Malagrifa and third-graders Catherine McFarlane, Matthew Monti and JoHanna Ragan. Joanna McFarlane, who has overseen Destination Imagination teams in previous years, serves as the team manager.

The team has successfully tackled the DI 2016-17 Technical Challenge, in which students complete a series of tasks using engineering, research, strategic planning and related skills. While the challenge subject itself is open-ended and the choice is left to each team, there are a strict set of technical requirements that must be fulfilled. And while every DI team has a team manager, there is no direct adult involvement in creating the challenge solution — all solutions are entirely researched, designed and built by the students themselves.

The Magic Monkeys have been working diligently on their challenge solution since August 2016, meeting each week, including during school vacation weeks and on some weekends. They have chosen to focus on the issue of ocean acidification, and have delved deeply into the problem of coral bleaching, creating a cohesive show with a number of special effects, including a series of chemical reactions. They have built a two-sided mechanical stage that employs several different lever and pulley systems to move a team member from one side of the stage to the other. Together, the team has authored a two-act skit, with each team member playing the part of an ocean creature, incorporating a summary of the causes and effects of ocean acidification in the presentation. In addition, each team member has made his or her costume to wear during the skit.

The cost to participate in the week-long Global Finals tournament adds up to nearly $1,600 per team member. The team is asking for the community’s support to help defray the costs. To donate: https://gofundme.com/magicmonkeys.